


Circus

by Ninj



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 03:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninj/pseuds/Ninj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompted by <a href="http://fuel-for-flight.livejournal.com/"> fuel_for_flight</a>  for the <a href="http://upupa-epops.livejournal.com/140851.html"> Elena Gilbert Comment!Ficathon </a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Circus

Uncertainty seemed to be the only certainty in Elena’s life currently. Coming back to Mystic Falls was like coming back to a circus that had multiple acts that were always changing, and performers who weren’t so good at their roles. Upon her return from Denver she found that she had lost all control of her juggling act, the balls scattered around her on the floor looking more like debris than elements of her life.

Elena’s thoughts on the state of her life were interrupted by her phone flashing. It was Stefan ordering her to the boarding house for a recap of the latest disaster in Mystic Falls. Apparently, providing Klaus with his White Oak stake hadn’t gone as well as Damon assumed when there was no body count announced upon their return. 

Elena felt her feet moving toward the car even as her thoughts churned in her head. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened in Denver. She didn’t really have the words to talk about what had happened in Denver. Thankfully, that didn’t appear to be the reason Stefan wanted to talk. It appeared to be another ball dropped in her tragic career as a juggler. 

As it turns out uncertainty is a theme at the boarding house. So is defiance in the face of said uncertainty.

“What happened in the cave?" Elena asked, confused as Ric trails off in the telling of his story.

“We don’t know. Alaric wasn’t in the driver’s seat at the time, and his vampire hating self isn’t offering up any enlightenment,” Stefan did not seem pleased with this development, and seemed to imply beating it out of Alaric was still an option.

“Well since Klaus hasn’t killed us all that is a good sign,” Alaric answered what he could while looking deep into his glass of scotch. “Rebekah and the White Oak stake were gone when I came to.”

“Who let Rebekah go off with Alaric anyway? Stefan I thought you were watching him,” Damon joined the fray. “And by the way thanks for telling Klaus what we were trying to find. It was so nice to meet Kol and his good friend the baseball bat.”

Stefan and Damon were in another competition to see who could be angrier with Klaus, or maybe it was with each other. The brother’s in conflict was just another attraction. It was both the more constant and the most changing. Elena made unfortunate guest appearances in their act along with the vampire that shared her face. Early on she had played them both, but now they were only the same sometimes. If you asked Elena she was a lot better in their act than in her own. Juggling had never been her forte.

“What do we do now?” Elena questioned. She had to get the show back on the road. Damon had always been unpredictable, using a seemingly endless array unstable attack methods which made their act thrilling. However, now that Stefan had also become unpredictable it was too squarely in the ring with them. She wanted out.

“Who knows what Klaus’ next move is,” Alaric was morose. “Or he could just run off and build a hybrid army now that nothing can kill him with or without Elena.”

There were times when Elena thought Alaric was not helpful. This was one of them. The reminder to the Salvatore brothers that Klaus wanted her out of their lives was met with snarls of defiance and anger. Well, that was the brothers’ reaction. Elena just rolled her eyes. Sometimes she thought she needed to find an act of her own that wasn’t juggling, and it wasn’t being the girl in the ring with the monsters. 

“Not until I get my White Oak stake,” the voice of the ring master of the show insisted. Ring Master was really a loose term for his role in the show, everyone gave him credit for their actions, but they all wanted to do their own thing. In this case he looked decidedly displeased about the current production.

“We can’t give you what you already have,” Alaric replied. He eyed Klaus warily knowing another snapped neck could be in his future. 

Elena eyed the vampires carefully and was..concerned with what she found. Damon clearly had the snatch and run face on and he was edging closer to Elena. Stefan was clearly feeling antagonistic and willing to provide a distraction even if he didn’t know it. 

“That would be true, if I had it. I don’t, and knowing you lot, you think you’re being clever again.” Klaus had never approved of clever when it wasn’t his idea. 

“Rebekah has it,” Alaric insisted. “It was gone when I woke up.”

“I want the White Oak and I want my sister. Don’t make me ask again. I thought we were done with these games.”

Elena snorted at that, drawing glares from everyone. Who were they kidding? All they played were games, games with really high stakes that some of them couldn’t admit to. 

“We don’t have what you want,” Damon insisted. “Talk to your sister maybe she hid it somewhere to prevent being locked in another coffin.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear, I don’t have a sister to talk to,” Klaus replied eyes flashing. “I get my sister and the White Oak and you get to keep seeing Elena. One day, that’s it if it’s not here you’ll never see her again. It’s clear you lot can’t be trusted with what’s mine.”

“Elena is not yours,” Stefan felt the need to aggressively disagree with the hybrid. 

“Whose is she? Kol says it looks like she’s Damons now,” Klaus taunted. “Kol is of course mistaken, she’s the Doppleganger, she’s mine.”

Sometimes, Elena feels like one of the balls she juggled. Only she gets tossed between alpha male vampires who don’t recognize she’s a person and not an object. Elena tends to be at her most unpredictable when treated as an object in space. She has to make sure they understand that these are her choices, it can get ugly, but people like to choose their own direction. In evaluating the reaction of Stefan and Damon though, Elena thinks Klaus should have stopped at the threat to leave with her because now? Now, no one is paying attention to the ring master, and all eyes are focused on the brothers. 

“What is Kol talking about Damon? What did you do?” Stefan asked. One would be mistaken if they thought it was calmly. 

“You sent her with me brother,” A tense and antagonistic Damon replied. “Bound to confuse people.”

Klaus seems both delighted to have caused the brothers conflict, and irate that his threat is on the back burner. He flashes over to Elena.

“Get them to focus on what I want,” Klaus threatens, “or you won’t be here to make up your mind.”

“I am what you want,” Elena answers. 

There is pain her arm as Klaus grips it. Elena can hear Damon and Stefan trading barbs as Alaric switches his focus back and forth. Klaus pulls Elena up closer to him and puts his mouth next to her ear.

“Damon is of no use to me, and he’s tried to kill me,” Klaus isn’t saying anything Elena doesn’t know. “If I don’t get what I want, I’ll choose for you.”

With that Klaus is gone, and the uproar continues as new rolls and rings are developed. Elena finds herself squarely in the middle of the brother’s ring. Right where she tells herself she does not want to be.

Perhaps from previous experience with the constant danger to Mystic Falls and Elena, Alaric has come to the conclusion that Stefan and Damon are done dealing with Klaus problems until they sort out their own. If anyone wants to save the day it’s going to have to be those outside the immediate issue of who Elena’s heart belongs to. Alaric indicates to Elena that he’s leaving.

“I’ll get Caroline to help me look for Rebekah,” Alaric tells her as he dodges Damon’s thrown glassware as the yelling escalates. “You should head home. 

Elena doesn’t think she can leave, but smiles at Alaric. If she leaves there’s no one to watch the act. Elena thinks the act is for her. More likely they’re all performing for each other at this point. Besides, the truth is, she’s already been in the act for years and while it may be unfortunate for her at this time it’s a little late for her to leave now. It’s years too late to think that she’s not already tangled up in both of them. The door shuts and suddenly two pairs of wounded eyes focus on Elena like she has all the answers. 

The truth is, she’s giving up juggling for sure. The one person show was never something she wanted. On her own she drops things, but she’s always been able to help people when she works with them. She’s better as a supporting character. It’s too bad everyone wants to make her the star. If she admits it to herself she loves them both. She could run, and soon (if this thing with Klaus ends) she will run. She’s willing to be a supporting character, but not a prop. For seconds in the last years they’ve had a perfect act. It’s not an act with the odd man out or Elena as an object it’s an act that has to be balanced between three people. A pyramid or something she thinks smirking to herself. She’ll tell them (and herself) when this is over she wants out of the circus. The truth is she’s sick of seeing her name in lights, or feeling herself pulled in two directions. The truth is, she wants equal billing.


End file.
